1 Sergio to cash in?
With 10 goals in his last 11 appearances against Spurs, it’s fair to say Sergio Aguero enjoys this fixture.
The old saying ‘horses for courses’ could apply again here, with Kun clearly City’s talisman against the North London outfit.
He once scored four goals in one game against Tottenham and bagged 10 in seven starts – but he hasn’t found the net in his past four appearances.
Given his display and goal against Swansea in midweek, he may get the opportunity to rediscover his goal touch on Saturday – Spurs will be hoping he doesn’t start, no doubt!
2 Will Tottenham stick or twist?
Spurs are, and have always been a club that likes to play football.
They will arrive at the Etihad knowing that the handful of sides that have taken City on this season have often been on the end of a hiding (Palace, Watford, Liverpool and Stoke to name but four shipped a combined 23 goals).
But Spurs have players who can hurt any defence in Heung-Min Son, Harry Kane and Dele Alli – and will attack the flanks with Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier both likely to start.
So, will they attack and go for broke, or play more conservatively and use the counter-attack?
Of course, the visitors will have plenty to worry about, too, but this could be an end-to-end game that looks to have plenty of goals in it…
3 Improving Spurs
Three successive wins suggests Tottenham are finding form again.
Two title challenges in the past two years have established Spurs as one of the country’s leading sides, but they haven’t been quite as potent this campaign and have struggled to find consistency.
December, however, has seen flashes of the Spurs of recent seasons with wins over Apoel Nicosia, Brighton and Stoke City already secured.
It’s an odd stat that the Lilywhites are 19 points ahead of bottom club Swansea, and 18 behind City, but they will arrive at the Etihad determined to show the gap in quality is nowhere near as big as the Premier League table suggests.
4 Food for thought
Spurs’ record against the so-called ‘big six’ – City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and United – is surprisingly poor.
The North Londoners have won just one of their last 17 games away from home against teams who regularly finish in the top six of the Premier League table, drawing six and losing 10 – a record that stretches back to 2014.
That will be a surprise to most City fans as the home fixture against Tottenham has become one of our most difficult in recent years, but perhaps not a shock that their only success in that 17-game run was against the Blues.
In fact, Spurs have won 10 games away to City during the Premier League era – their most successes during that period and out of the last four meetings with Spurs, City have taken just one point from a possible 12, losing three times.
So, while Mauricio Pochettino’s side have struggled against the other top six sides, they have often excelled against City.
